Whoa!  June was such a crazy fun (but busy!)  month till I missed sending out an Edge, but I’d like to say a giant belated THANKS to the Greeley Blues Festival folks and fans for an amazing day of Blues!  The band met up with old friends like IBC winner Lionel Young, Rex Peoples, Curly “No Shoes” Jr., Miss Blues in from Oklahoma, that relentless touring machine Hawkeye Herman, Dolores Scott, who brought us some Chicago Blues, and Randall Dubis, who is back home and on the scene after touring with Sonny Rhodes for quite a while!  Made new friends too, like Sista Monica Parker, (what a powerhouse!!!)  and Jackie Payne and Steve Edmunson, soul blues masters who, by the way, are always dressed to thrill!!  We were informed as well, that the EBB is the only act to have played the Festival TWICE!  We played the Inaugural year with Buddy Guy, Marcia Ball and Duke Robillard, and we were honored to do it again!!  By the way, a YouTube video of the band performing Payin’ Dues is up on “Boulder’s Home of the Blues” website!  It’s embedded on their site, which is a part of the larger Boulder Outlook Hotel and Suites site (see below for more information on our July date there!) 

Apparently though, the day wasn’t over for me, because after I got back home, I found myself heading over to Herman’s Hideaway for the Subdudes concert that evening!  Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald opened for the band, and even though I missed his comedy set, I heard all night about how great he was, and later got a chance to chat awhile with him.  I didn’t know it then, but it was dream come true time for me, because the band invited me onstage to perform One Word (Peace) with them!!  Just thinking about it now still makes my hair curl (even more, if that’s possible-grin!!)  The EBB has been covering One Word almost since the CD Behind the Levee came out, and it ranks as my favorite Dudes’ song ever!!  Tommy Malone is one of the truly great vocalists on the scene today, and I was absolutely in Heaven being given the chance to share a song with such an unbelievable artist.  I read a comment about that night on the Dudes website (www.subdudes.com) that John Magnie and I were smiling so much it was a wonder we got the words out!!  All my love and thanks to him and Jimmy Messa, Tim Cook and Steve Amedee for being the great friends they are and extending such an opportunity to me.  I Love You Guys!!

As you all also know, we played Jazz at Jack’s to a sold-out house on the 21st, Elway’s Summer Series to an equally crowded house, and the City of Lyons’ Good Old Days Festival, where we made new friends Dylan and Brody!!  These two teenagers are bluesmen in the making, and I fully expect to share a stage with them one day!!  What fun!!!

July finds the band not quite so busy (thank goodness, cause our August is NUTS!) and staying close to home, but still doing fun gigs!  Wednesday, July 2nd, we are at E.B. Rains Park in Northglenn, CO for their “Summer Soulstice” series!  This series has been going gangbusters for a number of years now, and we’re happy to travel up to the North Metro area to hang with our fans there!  The show starts at 6:30, so bring your blankets, coolers and the whole family and listen to some Summertime Blues! 

July 4th, Independence Day, we once again travel to Central City, CO for their 3-day American Pride Festival!  This year, we join the likes of Colorado faves Homeslice, and the day’s headliner Firefall!!  We take the stage at 4:30 pm, and play till 6:00.  Come on up to the cooler mountains and enjoy the day with us! 

The last gig of the month,on July 5th,  we go back to “Boulder’s Home of the Blues” Skinny Jay’s Blues Room at the Outlook Hotel in Boulder, Colorado!!  What can I say about this venue that has turned into a “must stop” for so many touring blues musicians?  Everyone from the “Son of the Outlook” Steady Rollin’” Bob Margolin, to Grammy winner Alvin Youngblood Hart, guitar wizard Ms. Kelly Richey, harmonica phenom Jason Ricci, and bluesman Larry Garner has graced the stage at one time or another, and the Outlook is gearing up for yet another sizzlin’ Summer of Blues!  Miz Honey “Blues Bee” Sepeda does a fantastic job of keeping us all updated on their happenings through her email updates and the website, and the EBB is honored to have video of us at the Greeley BluesFest on their Site and on YouTube!  Now THAT’s viral marketing!!!

The band takes a well-deserved break for the remainder of July, because we come back with a vengeance in August!!  I’ll talk more about that next month, but here’s just SOME of the Fests and venues we play that month (not in order):  SummerFest on Old South Pearl Street, Woodland Park’s Music Series, New West Fest in Fort Collins (where we open for Little Feat!!)  And the week-long Denver Jazz and Blues Festival in Historic Five Points, where we will play the Wednesday of that week!  Do go to our sites at ericabrownband.com and our MySpace page at myspace/ericabrownband for all our dates!  Come on out and Party with us!  Love to all!!...E